Solar retinopathy from sun-gazing under the influence of LSD.

Abstract

Solar retinopathy is a condition that can result from focusing the eye(s) on the sun, and usually follows the independent viewing of a solar eclipse. It has also been reported after direct sun-gazing, in anti-aircraft lookouts (Flynn, 1942; Cordes, I944, I948), in mili- tary recruits hoping to obtain discharge from service (Ewald and Ritchey, I970), in hos- pitalized schizophrenic patients (Anaclerio and Wicker, I970), in individuals observing the sun as a religious ritual (Agarwal and Malik, I959), in sunbathers (MacFaul, I969; Ridgway, I967), in patients trying to blind themselves (Eigner, I966), and recently in patients under the influence of LSD (Ewald and Ritchey, 1970; Ewald, I971). Cases have also been reported following indirect or reflected sunlight injury, from water or desert sand (Rosen, 1948; Irvine, I945), and in patients undergoing "prolonged and unprotected exposure to the infra-red rays of the solar spectrum in the tropics" (Smith, I944). It has recently been suggested (Manchester and Manchester, 1972) that the temporary blindness of Saul of Tarsus may have been the result of solar retinopathy.